Automatic car-brake



Model g1). RANDOLPH.

Automatic Car Brake. No. 241,510. Patent ed May 17, 1881. V

ATTEST: 276.4, 9 :1

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7 To all whom it may concern UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID S. RANDOLPH, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

AUTOMATIC CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 241,510, dated May 17, 1881.

Application filed July 6, 1880. (No model.)

Be it known that I, DAVID S. RANDOLPH, of the city of St. Louis and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Automatic Oar-Brakes; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming partof this specification.

This invention relates to certain improvements in that class of automatic car-brakes in which the brakes are automatically applied to stop the car by the draw-heads being pushed inwardly when the cars are in motion; and the present improvements consist, first, in the arrangement of a lever pivoted between the draw-timbers, back of the draw-bar, one arm of said lever being connected by suitable chainand-rod connections to the brake-beams, and the other arm carrying a lever or drop-latch thatis connected by suitable vibratingrodandlink connections to an automatic regulator arranged on the car-axle, operating by centrifugal action to move the parts into position, so that any inward movement of the draw-head will set the brakes, as will hereinafter more fully appear; secondly, to peculiar construction of the automatic regulator, as willhereinafter more fully appear; thirdly, to certain details of construction, as will hereinafter more fully appear.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective viewof one end of a car illustrating the application of my improvements. Fig. 2 is a detail vertical section. Fig.3 is a side elevation of the automatic regulator with car-axle in section. Fig. 4 is a detail plan of same. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the vertical rock-shaft and rocking arms. Figs. 6 and 7 are detail sections of modified connections between the draw-bar and brake-bar rods. Fig. 8 is a detail side view of automatic regulator. Fig. 9 is a detail view, partly in section, of the adjustable pivot for the vibrating lever L.

The car-frame A, draw-timbers B, wheels D, axles E, truck-timbers F, draw-bar G, and brake-beamsH may be of any suitable wellknown form and construction.

I is a bell-crank lever, pivoted at i between. the draw-timbers B in any suitable manner.

To one end of thelever I is pivoted, at i, a

secondary bell-crank lever, J, the lower member, J, of which is raised out and lowered into engagement with back end of the draw-bar G by the following means: The vertical member J connects by a link,j, to the arm of a vertical rock'shaft, K, having an arm, is, at right angles to arm 70, which arm 70 is connected by link 1 to the inner end of a vibrating lever, L, the outer end of which carries a friction-roller, Z, which bears against the moving disk or plate M of the automatic regulator, the peculiar construction of which regulator will be hereinaflever I connects with and operates the breakbeams H in the following manner:

N is a U-shaped strap attached to the crosspin 11 of the lever I, and carrying at its lower end a plate, it, upon which rests a spiral or other spring, N. 0n the top of this spring is arranged a plate, a, to which is attached a rod, n connected by chains a n to the rods h h of the brake-beams H, which chains are arranged to pass around and be guided by friction-rollers 0 o in a hanging frame, 0, pivoted to the under side of the draw-timbers B. The purpose of the spring N and plate-connections a n is to provide an elastic connection between the draw-bar and the brake-beams, the elasticity of which can be regulated and adjusted by means of the nuts on the ends of the strap N and rod n as clearly indicated in the drawings.

Instead of the friction-rollers 0 0 bell-crank levers o 0, as shown in Fig. 6, may be used as a substitute when desired.

0 is a dependent link from'frame O, for sup porting the ends of the brake-rods h h.

In order to adjust the lever L and its bracket L to the difl'erent forms and sizes of car-trucks met with in use, I have made the pivot pin'or bolt 1 adjustable in an elongated slot, l", in said bracket L, as clearly indicated in Fig. 9, which allows for the required adjustment of the lever L, and thus avoid the necessity of making different sizes of levers to suit different constructions of car-trucks, &c.

The device shown in Fig. 7 is a modified form of connection between the draw-bar and the brake-beams. In this the lever J is pivter more fully described. The other end of the down and is connected by rod 70 to one brake beam. At the center of the lever I is pivoted a similar lever, 1 connected at its lower end to the rod h of the other brake-beam, and at its upper end is pivoted between the drawtimbers in any suitable manner. J is a link or hanger for supporting the upper end of the lever J.

In order to allow for the movement which takes place between the truck-timbers F, to which the lower end of the rock-shaft K is journaled, and the car-timbers A, to which the upper end of said shaft is journaled, the journals of said shaft are arranged as follows: The upper journal holds the shaft from any vertical movement, while the lower journal allows of a free vertical movement, and the movement that takes place between the lower end of the shaft K and the lever L (fixedly attached by bracket L to the truck-timber) is.

allowed for by an oscillatory motion of the connecting-link Z. The link 3' connects, by means of an elongated slot-,j, with the journal-pin of the rock-arm k, the purpose being to allow for the backward and forward movements of the parts by the draw-head, without transmitting said movements to the rock-arm k and its connections with the regulator on the car-axle.

My automatic regulator is constructed as follows: I? is a collar, composed of three or more sections secured together on the axle by bolts 1), so as torotate with the same. The sections are recessed out, so as to leave only a short bearing-lug, 11 at the edges, as shown, the purpose being to make the collars fit the different sizes of car-axles met with, and avoid the necessity of having separate patterns for each size of car-axle in use. The collar P is provided with radial journal-pins p for the centrifugal weights Q, which, when atrest, are drawn into a line parallel with the axis of the axle by means of springs It, connected at one end to the lugs q of the weights, and at the other end to eyes 1", arranged in recesses r of the journal-pins 19, so as to give a purchase on the springs when the weights are in action, as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The centrifugal weights are connected to the moving disk or plate M by means of links m pivoted in the weights and between lugs m on the disk or plate M, as shown, which disk is supported solely by these links and has no bearing on the axle. The plate M is formed in sections similar to the collar P, which sections are secured together by a lap-joint, m, and countersunk bolts m, as clearly indicated in Fig. 4.

The action of the automatic regulator is as follows: When the axle is not rotating the springs R will draw the weights into the position shown in Fig. 4c parallel with the axis of the car-axle, which pushes the moving plate M inwardly, and, through the connections L, l, K, k, k, and j, lifts the lever or latch J out of engagement with the rear end of the drawhead. As the car-axle rotates the weights Q will, by centrifugal motion, be thrown into the position shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 8, at right angles (or approaching a right angle, more or less depending upon the speed) to the axis of the axle, so as to draw the moving plate or disk M outwardly and permit the lever or latch J, by means of gravity, to drop into position behind the draw-bar, ready to apply the brakes when said draw-bar is pushed inwardly. The link-connections m have their journals so arranged as to give an independent spiral motion to the disk or plate M as it is drawn out or pushed in, as will be readily understood by an inspection of the drawings.

I claim 1. In an automatic car-brake, the combination, with a movable draw-bar, of an elbow-1ever pivoted in rear thereof and connected with the brake mechanism, and a latch pivoted on the elbow-lever and connected with an automatic regulator adapted to actuate the latch and cause it to engage with the draw-bar, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The levers 1 J, link-and-lever connectionsj K L l l to automatic regulator on caraxle, in combination with the hanging frame I O, pulleys 0 0, or their equivalents, rod-andchain connections a n n h h to brake-beams H, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

3. In an automatic car-brake, the combination, with a movable draw-bar and brake mechanism, substantially as specified, adapted to be operated thereby, of an automatic regulator located on the car-axle, and an interposed pivoted lever having an adjustable fulcrum, and adapted to transmit the movements of the regulator to the brake mechanism, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

4. In an automatic car-brake, the combination, with a movable draw-bar, of a pivoted e1- bow-lever having a latch adapted to engage with the draw-bar, the brake-rods and an interposed adjustable springlink, (substantially such as is formed by strap N, spring N, and rod 02 as and for the purpose specified.

5. The combination, in an automatic carbrakc, of the vertical rock-shaft K, operated by an automatic regulator on the car-axle, lever of latch J, draw-bar G, and link j, having elongated slot j, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

6. In an automatic regulator for car-brakes, the regulator-collar composed of a series of flanged sections, each section having a radial pivot-pin for th e centrifugal weights, the flanges of the sections adapted to be bolted together to inclose the axle and cause the sections to bind thereon, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

7. The combination, in an automatic carbrake, of the moving plate or disk M, links m, and fixed collar 1?, said links being arranged to support the plate or disk M free from contact with the axle, as set forth.

8. The centrifugal regulator for automatic car-brakes, consisting of a shaft-inclosin g 001- IIO lar having a series of radially-projectin g pivot pins or journals, in combination with a series of centrifugal weight-s pivoted on the radial dial pivot pins or journals, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

9. In an automatic car-brake, the combination of a movable draw-bar for actuating the a brake mechanism, two independent brakerods, each connected to and adapted to operate separate brake-beams, an intermediate pivoted lever or levers provided with a latch to engage with the draw-bar and connected to the two brake-rods, and an automatic regulator connected with the latch and adapted to control its engagement with the draw-bar, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

10. In an automatic car-brake, the collar P, provided with radial pivot-pins p, in combination with the centrifugal weights Q, said weights being arranged to swing sidewise from the axis of the oar-axle, as set forth.

11. In an automatic car-brake, the vibrating lever L, having a friction-roller, l, in combination with the moving plate or diskM of the automatic regulator, as and for the purpose set forth.

12. The combination, in an automatic carbrake, of the hanging frame 0, dependent from the car-body, and pulleys 0, or their equivalent, with the chain-and-rod connections n n h h of the brake-beams, as'and for the pur- 5 pose set forth.

DAVID S. RANDOLPH. Witnesses:

ROBERT BURNS,

E. L. MORSE. 

